SNEED, LIGGINS GO ON CAMERA WITH 20/20

Radio One's Mary Catherine Sneed and Alfred Liggins have just completed an interview with Arnold Diaz for ABC's 20/20 in which the pair address independent promotion, the new set-up at their company to deal with the music business and their campaign to "clean up" Urban record promotion.

Sneed claims that indies have made millions billing for adds at the chain, without any benefit to the Radio One. The chain recently placed Jodi Williams as their official independent, causing a major stir in the Urban promotion community.

In fact, for the last three weeks, no Radio One Urban station has had an officially reported add because the Urban promotions community refuses to deal with Williams under the new terms set up by Sneed and Liggins.

The pair claim that there is "collusion" and "price-fixing" going on at the label level, and that they intend to fight it.

20/20 is in the midst of a putting together a story on how records break, interviewing key radio and promotion executives to discuss the issue. To date, Radio One is the only chain that has confirmed an on-camera conversation, which included Liggins stating that the Urban promotion world has been involved in illegal practices and it is Radio One's goal to clean up the system.

No word on when the piece will air. We'll keep you posted so you can set your TiVo.